2018
In the
new year of 2018 gas works were started at Baxtergate between Wellington Road
& Brunswick Street & at Windsor Terrace meaning road closures were
necessary. The work to replace old metal gas pipes with plastic ones was
followed by more work in Baxtergate, replacing the kerb stones of the road with
new ones. This work was announced during 2017 & was scheduled to be done
straight after the work for the gas board. The replacement kerbs had already
been used near to Landers' Butchers around 3 years previous & now all the
kerbs would be replaced, followed by re-surfacing the road with tarmac,
changing the image of the 'modern' Baxtergate in my opinion. The work here was
followed by gas works at
Above from left: The work looking towards Brunswick Street showing some of the new kerb stones; Looking towards the Swing Bridge with gas works taking place; All kerbs replaced & road re-surfaced with tarmac; Work at St. Ann's Staith from New Quay Road; Looking back towards New Quay Road showing the temporary road
Above: The extension to the park & ride to the right of the photo where the white van is parked
West Cliff Salerooms were permanently closed in December 2017 & work got underway stripping the interior and altering the exterior. The ramped entrance was made flat and a tree was removed in February 2018. Iron fencing was installed around the perimeter of the front yard and this area was re-surfaced. The pay & display car park at Silver Street also benefitted from some steel bollards at this time, replacing unsightly boulders blocking cars from escaping the car park without being picked up on the cameras at the exit.
Above from top left to bottom right;
General view of the building; The ramped access made level; The front of the
building showing the side of the ramped entrance;
The front & side of the building; The side of the building near the car
park; The rear of the building looking towards The Paddock
Above from left: Front of the building with ground work carried out; The tree which once stood here is now removed
Above from left: New steel fencing
erected around the site; The newly-covered front yard; The new bollards at the
pay & display car park in
Above from left: The entrance to the courtyard parking area; The former ramped entrance to the building now gone; The iron fencing surrounding the area looking very elegant indeed
Below from left: Iron steps to nowhere recently created; The steps from the bottom; New iron benches
Pannett Park had new sandstone pillars built on the entrances to the park from Chubb Hill with work starting in late 2017.
Above from left: New sign at Pannett Park on the corner of Chubb Hill & Bagdale; New gate posts in the form of sandstone pillars at the entrances to the park
Work was also underway into the New Year on replacing old street lighting with LED lighting. This was a continuation of a long-running project by North Yorkshire County Council and at the time the areas of work included the Larpool Lane area & the Byland Road estate. A short time after this work moved onto what was known locally as the "railway". Helredale Road & Stainsacre Lane were done around late May into early June.
Street lighting replaced with LED lighting at Byland Road and other areas of town
Also in this area, Lavender's Bizarre closed down at the end of 2017 after spending a short time in the premises formerly occupied by The Food Weigh House in Baxtergate after moving from Skinner Street. This shop at 32 Baxtergate became a retro gaming shop & cafe. In other business news, Queens Cafe Lounge opened in March 2018 at Pier Road in the former premises occupied by Staponas Cafe & Gallery since 2011.
Above left & left centre: Lavender's Bizarre closed & Outpost 31 opens; Right centre & right: Queens Cafe Lounge getting ready to open its doors at the former Staponas Gallery premises in Pier Road
The gift shop on Khyber Pass was under new ownership whilst also featuring a new name "Khyber Barr". The shop now also sold local photographer Glenn Kilpatrick's photos & focussed now on food to eat in or take-away. A concrete terrace was installed ready for the 2019 season.
Khyber Barr picture selling shop & cafeopens
At Haggersgate the shop Treasure Trove moved next door & after a little work a new shop moved into its former home. Whitby Wildlife Sanctuary opened a charity shop here to help the charities funding.
Above from left: Treasure Trove after moving next door; Whitby Wildlife Sanctuary moves in
Cross Butts Roundabout saw more alterations, this time to the kerbstones of the central island, replacing the angled stones with straight kerbs like you see lining most pavement edges. This made the driving lanes on the roundabout wider.
Above; Cross Butts Rounadbout central island kerbstones replaced making the driving lanes wider
It was around this time that work started on the land of the demolished houses at Aelfleda Terrace which were wrongly demolished after a landslip in the gardens of the properties in 2012. A development of flats was now to be built on the site after the gable end wall of the adjoining house had been re-built. The was in place by October 2018.
Above from left: The land ready to be developed looking towards the gable end of the house which survived demolition; Looking towards Franks Terrace; The field behind the wall towards the Abbey
Above from left: The land where the houses will be built; The gable end wall of the surviving house now re-built
An area of land off Cliff Street overlooking the car park was given a touch of T.L.C. by Whitby In Bloom after realising the area was a target by youths so the group decided to create an Alice In Wonderland themed garden. They received £1,000 from North Yorkshire County Council. In addition to this, donations from residents & businesses & grant applications helped raise the £19,465 needed. The garden work was officially launched on 6th March 2018 when work began in creating the garden, which included large playing cards with inscribed quotes from the story. A C.C.T.V. camera was also installed.
Above from left: The area where the garden will be; A view from above
Above from left: A metal book; A bench with a bronze heart; A bench with inscription of "Everybody gets a prize"; A bench with a clock
A long-established Whitby shop was to close its doors for the last time at the beginning of April. Hall & Coates of Church Street, selling outdoor wear had been a long-running business in Whitby. The store was replaced by Abbey Jet, opening in the Summer. Supernews on Baxtergate closed its doors in early April due to the company going into administration. The company did re-open however only briefly and with limited services, closing on & off throughout the summer. The shop was closed for good by September though when the door was boarded up. No newspapers would be delivered & the PayPoint system was out of use. During 2019, the shop was internally gutted and had its floor removed. Work was still on-going into 2020. In more positive news though, a new business was opening up in the form of Bella's Hair Salon, based at 9 Mulgrave Road which opened around April.
Above from left: Hall & Coates, Church Street, closed at the beginning of April; Abbey Jet opens in its place in Summer 2018
Above from left: Supernews enters
administration and Whitby branch openes and closes several times through Summer
2018;
Supernews closes for good and the door is boarded up; Shop internally gutted
and completely boarded up for safety reasons
Bella's Hair Salon opens at 9 Mulgrave Road
Also sometime in the first few months of the year, Market Place toilets were closed for refurbishment & alternative portable toilets were available in Church Street car park whilst the work was being carried out. The toilets re-opened in July & were made pay on entry.
Above: Market Place toilets closed
At Sandsend, fencing was erected round a paved area in front of houses at East Row at the foot of Meadowfields in March. Just around the corner in Sandsend, damaged had occurred to the outwards archway of the car park. It seemed apparent that the driver of a high vehicle misjudged the height of the vehicle he was driving & demolished the cross bar across the top of the outwards arch.
Above from left: The fencing at the front of the properties; The fencing to the side of the properties along Meadowfields; The damaged archway looking from the outside; Inside the damaged archway
During April repair work was on-going at Dock End at Yorkshire Water's sewerage pumping station. The work was mainly undertaken overnight when the system was at its most quiet. Tankers were used to keep the tank dry so the team from Mott McDonald Bentley could work on it. This meant all of Dock End was screened off. In other news, sometime in the early part of this year, Mings Chinese takeaway & restaurant at Victoria Square closed their restaurant, leaving an unused area of the building. The next change came when the name changed to Lucky House Chinese Takeaway.
Above from left: The work at Dock End by Yorkshire Water; Lucky House Chinese Takeaway
A new museum was due to open anytime soon in the old Welsey Hall in Church Street after large-scale renovation works were undertaken. The hall was last used by Bobbins Wool and then Whitby Treasure Trove for a short time until this business moved out in 2016. The museum, run by W. Hammond, featuring Whitby Jet with a restaurant, opened in early September 2018.
Above from left: The renovated building from the front with new gates installed; A note apologising for the mess during renovation works
A lot of local roads were being re-surfaced in mid April including Langborne Road, St. Hilda's Terrace, Church Street & Spital Bridge, Windsor Terrace, Byland Road & the West Cliff Area including North Promenade. Anti-skid surface was laid on the upward side of Downdinner Hill also. Part-day road closures were necessary to make the work possible. After the re-surfacing work on Langborne Road & the markings had been re-painted, a slight 'mistake' was made. This being that at the New Quay Road end of the taxi rank there was a section of road on the side of the Co-op, about a car-length long, left with no markings at the side of the road, meaning a car could legally park there. The reason I say it was a mistake is because it never previously existed. At both ends of the taxi rank, a very small section of double yellow lines existed and I'm not sure I see the point in them, but the council obviously have other ideas. This problem was rectified in September when the gap was filled with the a continuation of the ziz-zag lines on that side of the road only. Amazingly, no-one took advantage of the unmarked section of road throughout the summer! Another bout of re-surfacing work was carried out through some nights in mid-May including Brunswick Street & Station Square. Brunswick Street suffered a set-back however and had to remain closed the following day after a water main had burst. The next set of roads to be resurfaced was Upgang Lane, White Point Bridge & Sandsend Road with work taking place in early June.
Above: Silly markings on Langborne Road, the double yellows were extended to meet the zigzags in September; Right: After filling in the gap
Work was nearing completion by April on a new entance & office being built at Whitby Ambulance Station with work on-going for most of the first third of the year.
Above from left: The new building at Whitby Ambulance Station from the rear; The new building from the side
Above: The work at Whitby Ambulance Station now complete as seen from the entrance to the ambulance station and from the rear
Sometime at the beginning of 2018 some work took place above Doodle Pots & Natural Origins at lower Skinner Street and holiday apartments were created. The apartments called 'The Horngarth' offered 'luxury lodgings' and the entrance was between Doodle Pots & Natural Origins. Also before the start of the tourist season just out of Whitby a new reception building was built at Broadings Farm campsite. This also included a house to the rear of the reception area and was rendered in wood to blend in with the natural environment. Another new business opened in the town centre at 47a Flowergate. Poppy-rose Beauty Salon opened in late April in the courtyard area of Flowergate Walk.
Above from left: Horngarth Apartments; Broadings Farm Campsite reception building; Poppy-rose Beauty Salon
Restoration work was taking place to the statue of Captain Cook on Whitby's West Cliff with work beginning in late April, lasting around 2 weeks.
Above: Statue of Captain Cook restored
A burst water main at the lower section of Green Lane left local residents with low water pressure on the morning of 9th May. The road was lifting as a result of the water trying to escape and the road had to be closed whilst repairs were carried out. The road remained closed until the 14th May until the hole was filled in. This meant lengthy diversions via Hawsker for anyone wanting to access The Ropery area or the Abbey... including the tour bus!
Above: Burst water main on Green Lane resulted in a road closure
From mid-May onwards Poundland were to start selling clothes as Pep & Co moved in, taking over some space at the rear of the store which was formerly warehouse space. Alterations had to take place for this to happen and teams worked through the night moving not only shelves but walls too! Also around this time, work was taking place at what was formerly the Quarterdeck near the bandstand. The premises was bought by Mister Chips who opened the takeaway part of the building by the end of May with the restaurant taking a little longer to get ready & opened on 22nd July. The new eatery would be called Mister Chips By The Beach. Also around this time, Co-op Travel closed its Baxtergate branch having been bought out by First Choice who already had an outlet in town. The premises was sandwiched between Card Factory & Heron. The little shop on the West Cliff selling buckets & spades etc was extended to the South to allow room to sell hot food & drinks. The extension at K & K's was open by the end of July. Nearby, the former Whitby Wizard premises on Tucker's Field was re-opened on 30th July as Jasmine cafe & restaurant, serving Mediterranean dishes.
Above from left: Poundland now
featuring Pep & Co; The takeaway section of the new Mister Chips By The
beach now open;
The restaurant section of the new Mister Chips' establishment during renovation
works; The restaurant now open
Above from left: Co-op Travel closed down; Jasmine restaurant opens at Tucker's Field; Extension to the shop on West Cliff, now selling hot food & drinks
Work started in the first half of 2018 on a housing development on land which was once owned by North Yorkshire County Council & used as nurseries to store plants in greenhouses, ready for floral displays round town. The land had been disused since 2011 when all of the councils depots were moved to the Cholmley Way depot and the sale of this land and the land at Stakesby depot was approved. The decision was made later to split the two areas and sell them independently. The Nurseries development, comprising of 10 3-bedroom bungalows was complete by early 2020 & was created off Holly Tree Court.
Above from left: The gate across the end of the site from the bottom of Holly Tree Court; Looking into the site over the gate; Building work started
Above from left: The entrance to the development; The rear of the first row of houses; Along the road through the development; The other side of the road through the development
Below from left: The end of the road to the left; The end of the road to the right; Looking back along the road into the development from the end
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Above from left: The entrance to the site; Looking round the corner into the new road; The end 'T' part of the road looking to the left; The end 'T' part of the road looking to the right
Another housing development emerged out of the woodwork with preparatory work starting in late May 2018. Prospect Rise was built on land behind Anchorage Way & Shackleton Close near to the allotments. Work associated with this development saw a pedestrian crossing area with islands installed at Mayfield Road, just East of the junction with Pembroke Way. Ground work & the main road into the development from Shackleton Close was in place by October. The cottage at Frobisher Drive was to be demolished with work complete by May 2019. Please click the site plan to enlarge.
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Above - A view of what where the housing development will be situated before work began - From left: From the bottom of Shackleton Close towards Whitby; From the bottom of Shackleton Close towards Ruswarp; From the bottom of Anchorage Way towards Whitby; From the bottom of Anchorage Way towards Ruswarp
Above from left: The junction of Pembroke Way & Mayfield Road before any alterations took place; Work begun on the new crossing area; A sign advertising the development at the end of Shackleton Way
Above from left: The cottage at Frobisher Drive to be demolished; The same cottage viewed from the corner of Pembroke Way
Above from left: The site from the end of Shackleton Close showing the new road into the development looking left, straight ahead & right respectively
Above from left: Looking into the site from Anchorage Way; Looking North-east from the end of Anchorage Way; Looking East from Anchorage Way; Looking South-East from Anchorage Way
Above from left: Looking South from
Anchorage Way; The entrance to the development from Shackleton Close;
The houses to the left of the road leading off Shackleton Close; The first
houses to be completed just off Shackleton Close
Above from left: The cottage off Frobisher Drive during demolition; The rear of the cottage
Above from left: From Shackleton Close looking round the corner to the left: Looking back out onto Shackleton Close with the new properties on the right; Looking into the site from Anchorage Way
The first residents moved in during Summer 2019.
Above from left: Looking into the development; The site office & street sign; Plots 1-5; Plots 5 & 6 with plots 24 & 25 at the end of the road
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Above from left: Plots 14-17 (flats)
under construction with plots 18-24 complete; Corner plot 6 with plots 7-12
along the road;
Plots 25-29 with work still on-going on plots 28 & 29; Plots 69 & 70 to
the right with work on-going to plot 30
Above from left: Looking back up Shackleton Close from outside plot 35; Work complete to plots 31 & 32 with work on-going to plot 33; Work on-going at plots 28-30
Above from left: Looking into the site from Anchorage Way. The building to the right of centre is plot 33; Two blocks of flats with plots 38-43 & 44-49 visible
Work was nearing completion at the site by March 2020 when work had to be suspended due to Covid-19. Around 90% of houses were complete by this time with around 15 plots or less to be completed.
Above from left: The new crossing
island installed on Mayfield Road in Spring 2020; From the end of Anchorage Way
with plot 14 on the extreme left;
Plot 30 on the extreme left looking back up towards the existing part of
Anchorage Way; The 2 blocks of new apartments housing plots 38-49 between them
Above from left: Looking down a cul-de-sac from outside plot 33; An empty area of land near the allotments; Remains of the old farmhouse near Frobisher Drive; The location of the old farmhouse from Pembroke Way
The houses of the development were complete by the end of Summer 2020 with just the road surface and other finishing touches to be put in place.
Above top row from left: The corner of
Endurance Way from Anchorage Way showing plots 50-54 along Endurance Way;
Looking into Endurance Way showing plots 34-37;
One of the apartment blocks on Endurance Way containing plots 38-43;
Bottom row from left: Another
apartment block on Endurance Way containing plots 44-49; Ontario Way showing
plots 57-61;
Looking into the development from the bottom end of the old part of Anchorage
Way with plots 62 on the extreme left
Work was being carried out by the highways agency in June which involved installing pedestrian crossing areas which meant lowered kerbs were installed or re-located and tactile slabs added where they didn't previously exist. White Point Avenue - where dropped kerbs already existed but without tactile slabs, Abbeville Avenue, Laburnum Grove, Saxon Road, North Way & White Leys Road were all to benefit from the work. The crossing point at the top of Laburnum Grove was moved from the mouth of the junction with Oak Road to a few yards into Laburnum Grove & this time included tactile paving.
Above from left: New crossing point installed at Abbeville Avenue; Crossing point moved into Laburnum Grove from the mouth of the junction & tactile paving added
Above from left: New crossing point installed at North Way; Entrance to the Rugby Club car park; The access point to the rugby field
Other highways work was being carried out at this time in a similar area. A disabled parking bay was created near to Aukland Court around two years previous & now a similar bay was marked over the road near to Runswick Court. This time however, the text "Disabled" was marked outside the bay as opposed to inside. Sometime later in the year, a further disabled bay was added at the side of the road on Stakesby Road on the Westbound side.
Above from left: The old disabled bay which was created around 2 years previous near to Aukland Court; The newly-created disabled bay near to Runswick Court; Another disabled bay added on Stakesby Road
Work had been on-going for a number of weeks at the former premises of Wasley Chapman Solicitors with building an extension to the rear.
Above left: The work to the rear of the premises as it looked in June 2018; Centre & Right: The work on the extension from the rear & side nearest the bus station respectively as seen in September 2018;
Above from left: Windows fitted by early November; Work complete by mid-December
In early June Meadow clothing shop in Skinner Street closed its doors for good & a new business soon moved in after major internal works. The premises was changed to a micro-pub called Arch & Abbey and opened late July. Nearby, just up the other end of Skinner Street, Stuart Duckett's gallery at Mulgrave Place closed it's doors & re-opened as Stokers Cafe & Gifts in late July.
Above from left: Arch & Abbey micro-pub; Stokers opens in former Stuart Duckett's premises
Another micro-pub - The Quirky Den - opened its doors in the town at 11 Grape Lane in the premises formerly occupied by Spiritual Connections.
Above: The Quirky Den micro-pub
In Sleights the Postbox Cafe closed its doors for he last time before the Summer season & the former Post Office building changed uses again, the 3rd change in around 4 years. Also in Sleights, a 2-bedroom house was being built on land adjacent to 2 Fouracre Drive with access from Iburndale Lane. The house would have a garage and downstairs W.C. with 2 bedrooms upstairs both with ensuites.
Above: Gibson's Hand Made Kitchens' office at Sleights
Major work was taking place in the late summer months and continued for the next few months at the upper floors of 8 Baxtergate above Al Taco. The premises was most recently flats but was once home to a hotel. The building had come to a lot of structural disrepair and a notice was put on the main door to the flats stating demolition zone during the work.
Above from left: Major works to the upper floors of 8 Baxtergate; Scaffold to the rear of 8 Baxtergate
In September Shoe Zone temporarily closed its Whitby Branch for a short while to allow for an extensive refurbishment programme to take place, which included the fitting of a new floor & new fascia signage.
Above from left: Shoe zone closed for refit; Re-opened with new signage
Carol's Coffee Corner of Church Street at the corner of Bridge Street closed its doors in September 2018 and became Cooper's Coffee House. Sometime around this time also, just across the water, Nat West bank closed it's Whitby branch for good. One of the two ATM's were removed at this time also. Whitby did gain a cash machine in New Quay Road though, when a Natwest cash machine and BT payphone were installed. The remaining cash machine was removed from the building around April 2019 and work progressed behind closed doors converting the former bank into a restaurant. By December 2019, the only remaining sign of Natwest was on the window pane facing Golden Lion Bank - a sticker with the Natwest logo on it. Pap's fish restaurant opened in early 2020.
Above from left: Cooper's Coffee House opens in former Carol's Coffee Corner premises;
Above from left: Nat West now closed; New cash machine & payphone installed; Remaining cash machine removed; Ghost sign of Natwest bank left on the window pane; Pap's now open
Work to replace gas pipes under Helredale Road lasting around 14 weeks was started in September. This meant temporary traffic lights were necessary leading to long delays for motorists. At a similar time, Glenn Esk Road was closed to traffic to allow work to be carried out near to the bottom entrance to the almost-complete housing estate at Larpool. A footpath was created & extra drainage installed. The road was closed in late September & re-opened for Christmas, only to close again at the start of the year for a short time. When it re-opened, the housing development could be accessed from this new junction along Cormorant Road. Centre lines were added to Glen Esk Road for a stretch from near Larpool Drive to just beyond Eskdale Road.
Above from left: Looking down towards
Glemn Esk Road from the housing development; New pavements on Glenn Esk Road;
Drainage & pavements opposite the junction to the new estate from Glenn Esk
Road; Towards Ruswarp at the junction of Glenn Esk Road & the new estate
Above: 3 roads meet; Cormorant Road, Nightingale Drive & Kingfisher Drive
Above from left: Looking down
Cormorant Road towards Glen Esk Road; The junction of Cormorant Road & Glen
Esk Road with the newly-added centre lines;
Looking towards Ruswarp on Glen Esk Road from the junction of Cormorant Road
Whitby's Piers were in dire need of repairs. This work started in late 2018 and was due for completion by late 2020. The work, costing £7.6M was carried out by contractors Belfour Beaty and it was necessary that Endeavour Wharf car park was closed to the public during these works to be used as a compound. The work saw the structure of the piers repairs and any damaged masonry removed. This was the result of surveys to the piers in 2008 - over 10 years later! The East Pier extension bridge was also to be re-instated after being removed in 2002 due to safety reasons. A small repair was done at the end of the West Pier at the start of the works and locals responded in anger due to how un-fitting the new stone looked. This was rectified later on in the works. The piers date from the 18th century and are made of sandstone.
Above: Endeavour Wharf cordoned off
Above from left: The works area cordoned off on the West Pier; The West Pier harbour-side sectioned for work to be carried out; The unsightly repair job carried out at the end of the West Pier; Work on the East Pier
Above left & Left centre: The new
breakwater installed at the top of the West Pier slipway; The same breakwater
from a different angle;
Above right centre & Right: The temporary repair job at the end of the West
Pier is now permanently remedied with matching stone
East Pier extension link bridge in place by early 2020
Grape Tree health store in Baxtergate closed its doors having been only for only around 2 years taking over the premises from Day Lewis Pharmacy in 2016. CEX shop moved in, selling second-hand computer equipment & games. Also in the town centre, Abigail's sandwich shop of Flowergate closed down towards the end of the year. Nearby in November, Senses Holistic opened a shop down an alley in Flowergate & at a similar time, Reeds Reins estate agent closed its Whitby branch.
CEX moves into former Grape Tree store in Baxtergate; Abilgail's Sandwhich shop closes; Senses opens in down an alley in Flowergate & Reeds Reins estate agent closes
Work started at the end of the year at Khyber Barr on Khyber Pass to add an outside seating area.
Work after completion
